Springfield family wants justice for Huber Heights man found dead at park

— A family member will remember the man found dead at a Springfield park as a good person and hopes those responsible for his death will be brought to justice.

Cedric Holt Jr., 34, was killed and his body found in a vehicle at Virgil Mabra Park in the city Tuesday morning. Police are investigating his death as a homicide, Springfield Police Chief Lee Graf said. There are no suspects in the case right now, he said.

“He will definitely be missed and forever loved,” he said. “I really hope they get to the bottom of it and find whose responsible.”

Just before Holt’s body was found Tuesday, authorities in Huber Heights responded to a home on Shull Road where two boys, one being Holt’s 14-year-old son, had been tied up in a home invasion. The home had been ransacked, according to 9-1-1 calls.

Springfield and Huber police are investigating both cases, but say they are unsure if they are connected.

Sealey, a sergeant in November 2015, is accused of pepper spraying Montgomery County Jail inmate Amber Swink, who was strapped in seven-point harness and who had already been sprayed once before that. The county settled a federal lawsuit with Swink and her attorney for $375,000.

Judith Sealey(Staff Writer)

Staff Writer

Also, Judge Christopher Roberts recused himself from hearing the case which will prompt the appointing of a visiting judge. No visiting judge has been named, according to the docket.

Roberts wrote that he “maintains professional relationships with jail command staff and other deputies of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office,” according to court documents. “Due to the potential for conflict or claims of bias resulting from these relationships, recusal is necessary.”

Sealey did not appear in court in a December hearing, but defense attorney Anthony VanNoy and Cincinnati Prosecutor’s Office assistant Natalia Harris met with Roberts before that pretrial hearing.

The case is being handled by the Cincinnati Prosecutor’s Office because Dayton City Prosecutor Stephanie Cook — a member of a Montgomery County Jail oversight committee — said it would be seen as a potential conflict of interest for her office to try the case.

Sealey, who took medical disability retirement, has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Jail pepper-spray criminal case: Plea reached, sentencing Tuesday

— The misdemeanor assault case against a former Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office captain who pepper-sprayed a jail inmate in a restraint chair will end in a plea, not a trial.

Judith Sealey — who was shown on Montgomery County Jail surveillance video pepper-spraying Amber Swink while Swink was in a 7-point harness in November 2015 — will have a pretrial and sentencing hearing Tuesday instead of a trial in Dayton Municipal Court, according to court documents.

The case that started with a national news story showing the video launched an internal investigation about lost evidence, a federal probe into jail operations and a lawsuit from Swink that was settled for $375,000.

A joint motion filed Tuesday and approved Thursday by a visiting judge shows Cincinnati city prosecutors and Sealey’s attorney “have reached a negotiated plea agreement and wish to avoid unnecessary inconvenience to the Court and prospective jurors.”

The motion signed by Cincinnati Prosecutor’s Office assistant prosecutor Natalia Harris and defense attorney Anthony VanNoy does not address what the plea agreement is or if Sealey will serve any jail time, probation or fines.

The motion contains an agreed entry and order to change Tuesday’s event from a trial to a pretrial and sentencing hearing.